Workers Satisficing Careers By Cobbling Jobs Together

It can be tough finding a regular job in the tough economy that many Americans are enduring. To earn a living, some folks are working multiple part-time jobs — as many as six or eight of them. The New York Times profiled some of those workers Sunday.

For instance, there was Louise Gassman, 28, who earned from $1,800 to $4,000 a month by working, "as an actress; as an assistant to dance instructors at the Circle in the Square and Juilliard schools; as a baby-sitter; and in a variety of administrative roles and as a spinning instructor at SoulCycle, an indoor cycling studio in New York."

And today, the online freelance job service Elance released a report of a survey of its workers.

According to the site, the average freelancer is a female Gen Xer with a college degree, making between $25K and $50K.

The June 2011 survey was based on 1,500 responses from freelancers, according to Elance.

Other datapoints from the survey:

31 percent of the freelancers are Baby Boomers (born 1940-1964).

45 percent say they prefer to work by telecommuting most of the time.

41 percent say they use social media to find jobs.

Regionally, 24 percent of respondents were in the Southeast, and 21 percent in the Midwest — two places hit hard by the economic slowdown.

It probably won't surprise you to learn what most freelancers said was the best part of their job: controlling their own schedule (90 percent).

In New York, Louise Gassman told the Times that was the case for her, as well. Without being able to control her schedule, she said, she wouldn't be able to go try out for the jobs she really wants.

The Times story cites federal data showing that "1.9 million college graduates were mal-employed and had multiple jobs, up 17 percent from 2007."